An homage to classic Shelby Cobras, the GT500's gaping grille is devoid of any wire mesh, which would obstruct—albeit slightly—the necessary air to fuel 662 horses. Note the new
integrated air dam.

The day after road test editor Scott Mortara attended Ford's official launch of the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 in Atlanta, Motor Trend photographers Brian Vance and Mike Shaffer picked up the keys to the red GT500 you see here and blew out of town. At dawn. Why so early? Our two road warriors needed to meet the rest of our crew two days later at Chrysler's Proving Grounds, in Kingman, Arizona.

Why there? Ford claims the GT500 will break the 200-mph barrier, but we want to find out for ourselves. A rep tells us the Shelby needs about 17,000 feet of tarmac to hit top speed, and that the SVT team used one of the world's largest test tracks, the Nardo Ring in southern Italy, to confirm the 200-mph claim.

After researching a number of test tracks, military bases and airports across the country, we decide on Chrysler's Arizona Proving Grounds, which recently reopened after a $10 million overhaul to its 5-mile oval track. By our calculations, this facility's mile-long straightaways of freshly laid asphalt, upgraded guard rails, and professional staff would give us the best -- and safest -- shot at hitting 200 mph on this side of the Atlantic. The only knocks on the facility are temperature and elevation -- we saw triple-digit air temps by midday, and the thin air at nearly 2000 feet above sea level will hurt even the GT500’s blown V-8.

Some 41 hours and 1900 miles after rocketing out of Atlanta, Vance and Shaffer pull into the In-N-Out parking lot in Kingman, for Animal-Style Double Doubles and pats on the back. The biggest, most difficult piece of the puzzle to obtain has arrived safe and sound. We’ll try for 200 mph the very next day.

We spend Sunday morning, May 20, putting the GT500 through MT's standard battery of tests. At noon, the proving ground's head mechanic performs a mandatory safety check before the high-speed runs. Of particular interest are the Shelby's Goodyear Eagle F1 tires. Ford has mounted a fresh set in Atlanta, but that was 2000 miles ago. As a back up, our partners at Tire Rack have sent us set of heat-cycled F1s that we planned to mount just ahead of the run. That's when championship-winning racer and frequent Motor Trend hot shoe Randy Pobst chimes in: He'd rather run on the broken-in set of tires. Testing director Kim Reynold's brow furrows, but after close inspection of the tread and sidewalls, we follow the experienced driver's wishes.

It's not until 2 p.m. that we begin our first shakedown runs, and temps are as feared: 101 F in the air, 150 F on the track. Yet Pobst manages to clock 190.6 mph on his very first run -- a very good sign."This car is just yawning at 150 mph...it's not working at all," says Pobst, excitedly. "It's not hard to drive the car; it's a combination of the speed and the unknown. It's a new territory that I don't normally deal with -- this car, this track."

We push the second attempt to 6 p.m., hoping the cooler temperatures will increase speeds. We also discuss strategy; Pobst needs to carry more speed off of the banked turns if he has any hope of hitting Vmax in the oval's 1-mile straightaways.The evening brings cooler temps, and our strategy works, but neither is enough to bridge the considerable 10-mph gap. Though Pobst picks up roughly 7 mph at the corner exit, it translates to only 2 mph of gain down the straight. We end our day with 193.2 mph and resort to our backup plan: we will run again at dawn, when air and track temps could be as much as 40 degrees cooler.

What were you doing Monday, May 21 at 4:30 a.m.? The Motor Trend crew was yawning into cups of hotel coffee on the way back to Chrysler's Arizona Proving Grounds for check-in, safety check, and a 6 a.m. sharp start time.

After strapping on GPS antennas, VBOXes, and GoPro cameras, it's go time under ideal conditions: 64 degrees F and 15-percent humidity. The only issue is a slight headwind. It gives Pobst another thought -- flip the Shelby around and run in the opposite direction to take advantage of the track's slight decline. As with the tires, we don't see any issue with his strategy, so we send him out.Pobst's first pass clocks in at 195.8 mph, so it's obvious the lower temperatures are helping, as is his growing confidence at speed. He’s exiting the corner over 24 mph faster than he was the day prior. But is it enough? Our expensive window of full oval shutdown is closing, and temperatures are climbing like the morning sun. We have one, maybe two more attempts at most. .

After a quick stop to verify data, camera mounts, tire temps and pressures, Pobst roars out of pit lane, heading counterclockwise once again. This direction gives us a different look from that of the day before, when we saw him exit the banking onto the straight, toward the 200-mph goal. Flipping the car around means we get to see him come straight at us, foot to the floor, at 195-plus mph. It all happens so incredibly fast: At Vmax, Pobst is going about a mile every 18 seconds.Thankfully, the bundle of wires Reynolds has strapped inside and on top of the GT500 offer an early warning. Out of the still morning air, we hear a faint growl in the distance as a tiny dot drops off the far banking. Reynolds' quiet tenor rebroadcasts the data his laptop is picking up: "190, 191...192, 193...194..."

Love my 2011 Mustang but now I am seriously thinking of upgrading to the 2013 Shelby GT 500. I will check if I can get one for around $55K and the best trade in for mine. Curious why I have not received my MotorTrend copy with this review- Editor please note and fix.

Pretty awesome, but two things I don't believe... 1) 0-60 in 3.5? With 662 hp, if they can't beat that they should fire their traction control engineers 2) 15/24 MPG... no one that ever drives one of these around is ever going to get 15 with 662 hp on tap, irrespective of what the EPA says.

It seemed like there was a lot of wind noise in the video. Did he have the windows down during the 200 mph attempt? I know there would be a lot at those speeds even with them up but it seemed excessive.

Hmmm....Ford still need to reshape that mother to be a wind slicing speeder...That's what Bugatti did with the Bugatti Veyron SS; tweaked the power from the old Veyron and added a better aerodynamic body...

Awesome car and a great article, but 41 hours to cover 1900 miles? Come on, fellas! You're better than that. I've done Detroit to LA (roughly 2100 mi) in under 37 on more than one occasion, the fastest being a bit above 33.

Let's just put down the daily chores possible with this car.1- One can off to work in a business suit. No need for tattooed hand out of T-shirt.2- Available cup holder means one can have his hot coffee thermos while on the way to drop the daughter at kindergarten.3- Things changes here after dropping daughter at school; now it's time for a sweet quarter mile drag race off the next traffic lights.4- Change of plan instead of taking the normal route to the job, a freeway is rostered and hitting pedal to metal for 150+ reading on the speedo. Still arriving at the same time at job.You see there's hardly any need of 200 Mph on any given day like this. Yet Its satisfying this Mustang can blow almost any car (foreign or local) on the market by any factor:1. Price2. Horsepower3. Speed4. Factory Warranted.This Mustang is simply awesome & honest and now with immortal Shelby factor.

@fox1x Because salt flats ruin press cars. Also, it's a bit disingenuous. Ford didn't claim 200mph on the salt, they did it on tarmac. Yes, a massive ring in Italy at sea level, but that's still not salt.

tyrone2362In regard to the Ford rep's quote that the GT500 needs 17000 feet of space to hit 200 mph...I think he meant from a standstill. Remember, Pobst was exiting the banked corners at around 191 mph, and then from that speed he had another mile to reach 200 mph. So, looking at it that way, Pobst had a whole mile just to accelerate another 9 mph.

As I said previously, I would have to see the 202MPH to believe it. Even still, 196 is a good number, but not too far above the CTSV of 193. Still, props to Ford for building such a beast, even if it doesn't have the "I'm all business" look of the ZL1.

196mph is nothing to sneer at, with a little more track i'm sure it will hit 200mph, and to all the ford haters out there jealousy and envy will get you nowhere. and chevy trying to celebrate 40yrs of camaro is a joke, how can you celebrate when your camaro was dead for 8yrs.

So, 1 mile is about 5,270 feet. Ford says that the GT500 needs about 17,000 feet to hit 200. Why then would they be suprised if they didn't hit their goal? It should be OBVIOUS that their goal wasn't feasible. Maybe they just wanted to justify a trip to Europe. Still, there are some straight US Roads that can support the goal of hitting 200mph on the highway. I44E (Will Rogers Turnpike) in Oklahoma heading towards Joplin is one of them. 40 miles of straight highway. no bends.

I wonder why the ford's arizona proving ground wasn't used? Seems to me, they would wish to test it on the same track as the ford gt's top speed was verified. After all it is in the same state. UPDATE: I'm retarded apparently Chrysler's proving ground and ford's is one and the same , bought it from ford in 2007.

Oh just you wait bwells09.. they are going to compare the price to the ZL-1 then they are going to state that they too have a 200+ mph car.. but they wont realize that it costs double the GT500 optioned out...

Sure the Lingen-whatever Camaro could probably match this on the same track, same day. But this ridiculous car comes with a 60,000 MILE WARRANTY!!! What supercar can match that warranty? With enough money, anybody can build a 700HP very fast car, but who else besides Ford is gonna let you pound on it at the strip or track and then guarantee it gets you home through stop n go rush hour traffic?

Fantastic! You are awesome motortrend, you are awesome Randy Pobst, and man what a heroic car! I love that you can blow off darn near any older exotic from a $60k car with an honest to goodness cueball for a shifter!